"When you are hurt, you are alone." Will recalled his mother saying as she stroked his hair. It didn't help the situation of offered comfort, but it distracted him momentarily. . .

The plastic chairs of the hospital waiting room were cracked. Leaning back, the plastic pinched Will's skin. He didn't care.

The smell of soap and death was stuck in the air. Beeps of heart monitors and crying could be heard from each room. Will's eyes stung, and each blink he did took longer and longer to recover from.

A voice came from the hospital speakers. Announcing some sort of color code, whether blue or yellow... Will didn't know what they meant. His mother stopped stroking his hair and she let her arm loosely drape around his  shoulder. He made no attempt to recoil at her gentle touches. His mother's thumb rubbing against his shoulder slowly.

Will's chest tightened as he forced quickly himself to sit up. His back giving a quick sting as the skin caught in the plastic escaped. Will could already see the pink red tint his skin would take as it puckered upwards. His mother removed her limp grasp on him. The door to his right closed, and a nurse walked out with Nico and his father trailing behind her.

Nico's father looked lost for words. His sunken cheeks and haunted eyes ceased to have any effect to make Nico talk to him. Will shot out of his seat and ignored his mother's protests as he sprinted to Nico.

"Neeks!" He exclaimed, throwing his arms around Nico as the 11 year old feverishly clung to him. "It's okay, it's okay." Will repeatedly whispered to Nico as he cried. Blood covered his clothing and his arms were covered in scrapes. Hades, his father, looked at Nico with disapproval. Distaste flaring in his eyes as he stared at his son and Will.

Nico's tears wetted Will's shirt, but Will didn't care. Still-fresh-blood smeared over Nico's hands stained the white shirt Will wore. "T-The car. It cam-came out of no-nowhere." Nico stammered as he pulled away. He hugged himself as he cried harder. Painful sobs racked Nico's body, causing him to tremble violently once out of Will's grasp.

Will grabbed Nico's hand, pulling it to his chest and giving a reassuring squeeze. The blonde looked up at Nico's father. He caught a glance at the door that had yet to be closed. "May I go pay my respects, sir?" He questioned, giving Nico's hand another squeeze as it fell to his hips. Hades nodded and frowned deeper. He crossed his arms and watched as Will entered the hospital room, Nico at his side.

Will had them rememered when White was. It was the color of the living. The opposite of black, the opposite of the synthe. A sign of angels. He stopped, forgotten that he wouldn't hear the sound of Bianca's heart monitor. That sound had stopped thirteen minutes ago.

A white sheet covered her form. Will walked up to the bed, wires that had been hooked up to her resting in the ground. Nico sniffled and Will glanced back at him.

"Look away, okay?" He ordered, giving Nico time to shut his eyes tightly.

The blond then lifted up the sheet, looking at Bianca's torn up cheeks and bloodied face. Her head was bleeding, and blood trickled down her forehead. Her lips cracked and dry. Her glowing skin paled and pinking up at the scratches. Her hair was knotted, and Bianca's neck was covered in dirt.

Will couldn't look for more than a few seconds. Hastily throwing the sheet over her face again. He then went to Nico and hugged him again.

"You can open your eyes now." He whispered and kissed his forehead. Nico trembled in his arms.

It took months for Nico to be remotely like himself again.

Will remembered the first time he spent the night after Bianca's death. Nico has just turned 12, and they were in his room.

Will wanted his attention, so he threw a pencil at his knee.

Nico looked up from his drawing. "Hey Neeks?" Will questioned. "Yeah?" Nico replied as he stuck his pencil behind his ear and grabbed a marker. "I don't want you to be alone again."

"Alone?"

"Yeah. I'll just have to stay at your side forever." Nico cracked a rare smile and nodded. "Alright Sunny boy."